Chapter 2

Chapter 2

            “Hey Harper, do you think could have your manuscript done by Thursday?” a voice said behind me.

            I looked up. It was Evan, my editor. I didn't remember him walking in but I gave him a key because it wasn't unusual for me to be in my “zone” and not notice the poor guy standing in the rain. Outside my house. Knocking on my door. For forty-five minutes. In fact, it's probably happened three or four times. After that, I gave him a key so he could let himself in. Of course, that was only after Greg had his wolves run a very extensive search on him. Still as protective as ever. It probably should've irritated me but it just made me smile.

            Evan's brown eyes were looking down at me in earnest, almost pleading. The poor guy. I was always making things difficult for him. Not on purpose, of course, but when your big brother is Alpha of the local werewolf pack, sometimes there were more important things to do other than meeting deadlines for your publisher.

            I smiled. “No worries Evan. I'm almost done. It should be ready by tomorrow, in fact. A whole four days ahead of schedule.”

            “Oh great.” He was a sweet kid. Probably a few years younger than me. I was his first big assignment. If he could manage me, it would do wonders for his career. Being so new, he wasn't sure what he could ask of me, how he should ask it or whether or not he was asking the right things. He lacked the confidence needed to make it in this world of deadlines, short tempers and long nights and it made me think he might not be able to make it. What he lacked in confidence, though, he made up for in determination and enthusiasm. That, if nothing else, is why I agreed to let him be my editor. Plus, he had a good eye for noticing the small details that could turn a reader off.

            “Why don't you go home for now?” I suggested. “I know they tell you it's best to stay on top of your authors, but I prefer to work alone without anyone around to distract me. Once I'm in my zone, not even my brother and can easily pull me out of it.”

            He laughed. “I know but I tried calling you several times with no answer so I figured I might want to drop by and see your progress.”

            “Ah. Yeah, I put the ringer on silent on my phone so I wouldn't be disturbed. I'll e-mail you the manuscript tomorrow so no worries.”

            He lingered a bit, unsure of what to do. “Well then, I guess I'll get going.”

            “Look if Chris gives you a hard time, just tell him I bullied you. He'll believe it. Besides, he may seem like a hard a*s but he wants sales which means he wants my books which means he'll keep me happy.” I winked.

            He smiled again. “I suppose you're right. I'll be waiting for it then. Thanks for all your hard work!”

            I sighed and stretched when he closed the door. Damn it, I thought, now I've lost my concentration. Sweet kid, but he’d somehow managed to get in the way. Well, it wasn't a lie that I could have it done by tomorrow. I just didn't like to turn things in the same day I finished writing. Just in case I wanted to change something but it couldn't be helped. At least, not right now.

            I walked into my kitchen and put a kettle on to boil for tea. Greg walked in just as the kettle began to whistle. He looked tired, with dark circles under his eyes. Guess it was a good thing I didn't stay for supper.

            “What's up brother?” I greeted him.

            “Tea?”

            “Just Jasmine. Nothing special,” I shrugged.

            “I want some.” He closed the door quietly behind him.

            “I figured. So why the lack of sleep? You look awful.”

            He pulled a chair out from the table and sat down. “Bad news. It seems that we have a transfer coming in.”

            “A transfer?” I asked.

            “Yeah. From Drew’s pack in Colorado. Apparently, he's gotten himself into a bit of trouble. With the daughter of Drew’s second.”

            I poured hot water into mugs and steeped the tea. “Tell me you're joking.”

            “I wish. I don't really have a choice in the matter. The Council decided it was best to move him. They chose here. Small, obscure town and a pack with a well-known Alpha.”

            “Don't toot your own horn now Greg,’ I said sarcastically as I sat down next to him, handing him a mug of tea. 

            “You know what I'm talking about. Even the Council is impressed about my fast...uh...promotion.”

           

The “promotion” he was talking about is how he raised up so high to Alpha status in just two years. Greg's Change wasn't easy. He was attacked by a newly turned wolf that didn’t have an Alpha. It was a trend that the Council was starting to notice. Someone was purposefully turning wolves and leaving them rogue so that all they could do was give in to their wolf.

We were in Colorado visiting his grandparents when it happened. The papers reported a dog mauling. We weren't sure he was going to survive. I still remember how he pushed me behind him and deliberately got in the way of the wolf that was coming after me. I remember falling to the ground and screaming when the wolf tore into his arm, raking at him to try and get to his belly. I remember all the blood, his blood that drenched the ground. The local Alpha and one of his wolves stepped in at that point and pulled the crazed werewolf off my brother.

            Greg was in the hospital for three days. His heart stopped at one point. I remember the doctors rushing us out of his room, trying to preform CPR. I remember Cheryl crying into Eric's shoulder as I watched from the small window in the door.  His heart was back to normal before they had a chance to use the defibrillator. It took him two days to recover. No one could explain how he was healing so quickly. No scars, no lasting injuries.

            His parents said it must've been a miracle. How could someone so close to death just come back so healthy? I wondered too, though I didn't think it was a miracle. I became suspicious as I noticed his temper was ultimately worse than before. The smallest things would set him off and it was as if he couldn't control himself.

            I went back to the place where the “dog” attacked him. There, a man in jeans and a flannel shirt approached me. That's when I found out exactly what was going on and that no one else but this man, Andrew, could help my brother now. When I didn’t believe him, he sighed, stepped behind some bushes and began to strip. I immediately turned my attention elsewhere. When I looked back, a large, brown wolf was standing where Drew had been. I was scared at first, but his yellow eyes were so gentle that I found myself trusting him.

            After he switched back to human form and dressed, he bought me some coffee at a nearby store.

            “So now what?” I had asked him.

            “Now I need you to get Greg to trust me. We don't have much time. If he's not in my care by the next full moon, he'll turn into the very thing that nearly killed him.” he responded, taking a sip of his coffee.

            “He's so angry all the time now.” I saw him look at me from the corner of his eye. “But more than that, I think he's scared.”

            “He's turning into a wolf Harper. It's not something he'll understand,” he said kindly.

            I looked at him. “Andrew-,”

            “Drew. Please.”

            “Alright, Drew, what happened to the guy that attacked my brother?” I stared him straight in the eye, making sure he wouldn't lie to me.

            “We have strict laws Harper. Because we can't let Man know we exist. The truth of the matter is that wolf has attacked before. The reason I got there when I did is because I was pursuing him. Either he couldn't control himself or he didn't care. Either way, he couldn't be allowed to survive.”

            I nodded my understanding. Drew had already explained to me that not all people survived being attacked and Changed. It was more than likely that whomever he’d attacked before my brother was dead. Drew had been tracking him since the prior night before he finally caught up with him and Greg.

            I flipped open my cell phone and text my brother. I wasn’t sure that I could talk to him and keep my voice from shaking at the same time. I wasn’t sure that I could make myself sound convincing either. I’d always believe in being open minded but this was a stretch even for me. But I was willing to do anything, trying anything, to help my brother. Drew had already shown me his wolf so it wasn’t like I could say I needed more proof. Drew watched me from the corner of his eye.

            “Do you think he’ll come?” he asked.

            “Of course I do,” I said with a smile. “After all, I just told him I was having coffee with a guy old enough to be my father and damn is he good looking.”

            Drew threw his head back and laughed. “How I wished I’d had a little sister.”

            It took Greg less than 10 minutes to find us and in that time, his eyes had already turned yellow, a sure sign that his anger was surfacing and his wolf would take over. The shop keeper noticed and offered Drew the “back room” which housed a silver cage and shackles. I gulped. If I hadn’t known about the whole werewolf thing, I would’ve thought this man was into things I couldn’t even imagine.

            I had thought Greg would be more resistant to Drew but he conceded to join his pack after a short conversation. I also noticed that he seemed less irritated and was able to relax. I would learn later that this was the control Alphas had over their packs. Greg had lived with Drew for a year before he missed us and came home. In that year, he had gained so much control, even Drew had been surprised. It was unusual and unheard of, Drew had told me, for a wolf to master himself so quickly but apparently Greg was the exception. I remember feeling so proud when he returned home. I ran and jumped into his arms, as if my older brother and had never left me.

            Cheryl was nervous, though, about his return. He lived with them for about a month before he couldn’t take seeing her frightened of him. He couldn’t make any sudden movements toward her. She was never alone in a room with him. Doors were never closed while he was in a room with the rest of the family and she always tried to position herself closest to an exit.

 When he announced he was leaving the house, she didn’t protest. I did. I didn’t want him to leave again. Not when I just got him back. I didn’t understand why he was so willing to leave after only having been back after such a short time. He smiled sadly and said he was going no matter what. I turned on Cheryl and begged her to accept him. He was still Greg. He was still her son. That was the only time Greg ever struck me. I turned to him, half expecting to see the wolf in him. But he hadn’t turned. He was still Greg in his human form. Not even his eyes were yellow. Cheryl walked silently out of the room, making sure not to look at Greg and Eric followed after her. Greg and I were alone in the kitchen.

            “I’m sorry I slapped you,” he said after a few minutes.

            I walked to the stove and put my kettle on for tea. “It’s fine,” I lied. I was so incredibly pissed off. Finally, I turned. “Actually no, it isn’t fine you self-righteous b*****d. Where do you get off making these kinds of decisions? Who the hell do you think you are?” I marched up to him and stood on my tiptoes to be nearer to his face. “How do you think that it’s ok for you to just walk out of my life again?!”

            Greg stared down at me, wide-eyed with surprise, and laughed, a pathetic and almost self-loathing sound. “Why aren’t you afraid of me?” he asked.

            I gasped in surprise. He didn’t like seeing his mother afraid and was worried I was too. “You’re still my brother…just with an extra cool super power.”

            I walked back to the cabinet and took out two mugs. Greg brought me the loose leaf tea I enjoyed so much and took out the milk from the fridge. We stood there in companionable silence, waiting for the kettle to sound off. I saw him take in a deep breath before he turned to me.

            “If it upsets you so much, you’re more than welcome to move in with me Harper,” he offered.

            I turned to him and thought. “Under one condition,” I said.

            He lifted an eyebrow. As he opened his mouth to ask what the condition was, I reached out as quickly as I could and struck him across the cheek.

            “Yes, Gregory Munroe, I’ll move in with you,” I laughed as he stood there with his mouth open and a red handprint on his face.

            When we moved into town, Greg immediately made contact with the local Alpha and informed him of his arrival. The Alpha, Gilbert Martinez, had already heard of Greg from Drew at the Council meetings and welcomed him into the pack. I had also been introduced to Gil. He wasn’t very tall, maybe only two inches taller than me, but he had broad shoulders and beautiful brown skin. His hair was a dark brown and his eyes matched his hair. I could detect a slight Hispanic accent when he spoke. He looked nervous when he realized that I would be living with my brother but Greg assured him that he was in complete control.

Gil laughed. “It’s not you that worries me primo. I’ll be sure to let the pack know she’s with you. You’ll want to keep an eye on her, Gregory. She’s much too pretty.”

I had the grace enough to blush. Greg laughed with him. “My baby sister is more than capable of taking care of herself but yes, I’ll keep an eye on her AND the wolves near her.” His threat hadn’t gone unnoticed. Gil nodded once and walked out.

The next night, I had been introduced to the pack. It was a little daunting; facing twenty six people that I knew were wolves. The males scanned over my form in appreciation, causing me to turn as red as a strawberry. There were only two females in the pack, both mated and both smiled at me with sympathy in their eyes. Linda was Gil’s mate and as beautiful as a doll. She was from Mexico, with golden skin and light brown eyes framed with a thick fringe of long lashes. She was shorter than me but her body was lean and graceful, like a dancer. She never would tell me the story of how she and Gil met. She would just look away and smile whenever I asked.

The other female, Ailis, was mated to Gil’s second-in-command, Seamus. Both were from Ireland and born in the early 1800’s. In fact, they had grown up together. Ailis had been Changed first. It was similar to Greg’s story, except she had to learn to control her wolf herself. She ran away from her home, afraid of hurting her family. It was Seamus who had finally found her years later working in an inn.

She told me when he found her, he asked her right then and there to marry him, and he never wanted to be without her ever again. She accepted at first, overjoyed about being his wife, and then remembered what she was. She couldn’t let him marry her without telling him the truth. She called him out to the cliff one night, under a full moon.

Seamus told me he could hear the waves crashing against the rocks and her long, red hair whipped around her face in the wind. She was so beautiful, the moonlight glowing against her pale skin. He called out to her but instead of running to him, he said she began to cry. And then she began to change. Ailis says she knew, the minute she saw his face, that he had accepted what she was and that he was not afraid of her. Two weeks later, he asked for the Change and survived. They were married shortly after and have been together ever since.

Ailis took me under her wing-or paw rather-and we became fast friends. It didn’t bother her that I was a human like it did some of the other pack members and I suspected that Greg, with Seamus’ permission, often used her to help keep an eye on me. Especially as he fought to rise in position in the pack. He was a dominant wolf, more so than even Gil and it wasn’t long before he replaced Seamus as second and Seamus became third. I worried, at first, that my friendship with Ailis would cease to exist but she just shrugged it off.

“Change happens all the time,” she said with her beautiful accent, “especially in a pack. Greg is much more dominant. It won’t be long before he becomes Alpha and then Seamus will become second once more. Besides, I heard this rhyme years ago from these little girls about the third being the one with a treasure chest.” She winked.

I laughed. “I know that rhyme. But just so you know Ailis, third can also have a hairy chest.” I laughed again at her grimace.

 Ailis’ prediction came true. Within a year, Greg replaced Gil as Alpha. The fight was brutal, with broken bones and punctured lungs. I could still hear the snap as Gil punched Greg hard enough to dislocate his jaw. But it wasn’t enough to keep my brother down. With renewed energy after his injury, he came back, breaking Gil’s leg, ribs and gave him a good knock on the head. Gil conceded defeat and Greg has been Alpha for the last three years. Gil and Linda left the pack shortly after, residing to live by themselves in the countryside.

Once more, Greg had achieved something almost unheard of at such a young age. And, he was good at it. Good at being Alpha. Under his guidance, he was able to add more wolves to the pack, including women. Not one wolf ever went rogue under his watch and not one human has ever been lost. In fact, not one human even suspected that they had a pack of werewolves residing in their small, farm town. 

 

I smiled at the memory. “So,” I asked as I took a sip of tea, “who is he?”

Greg sighed. “His name is Zachary Wills. I heard he was Changed when he was 28 living in the 1800’s in London, England. The late 1800’s.” 

“Zachary Wills,” I repeated. “Doesn’t sound like a very English name.” I wrinkled my nose.

Greg laughed. “We suspect he changed his name when he came to the good ol’ U.S. of A but, of course, we haven’t found the proper documentation. So much has been lost since then…” his voice trailed off.

I stared at him from over my mug. “What sort of trouble?”

His eyes narrowed. “I believe he was stupid enough to try and date her. Helen is human and Jake is very protective of her.”

I frowned, thinking. “That hardly seems reason enough to transfer him. He could leave the pack on his own and find another.” Greg remained silent. “You’re hiding something,” I tried again, taking a more direct route.

He shook his head. “I’ve only heard rumors, Harper, and the Council hasn’t told me anything to either confirm or deny these rumors.”

“So what are the rumors?” I pressed.

He massaged his temples. “Vampires.”

I felt my jaw drop. “Excuse me?”

He smiled. “Vam-pi-res,” he said, enunciating each syllable, “You know, blood sucking fiends with slicked back hair and sharp, pointy teeth?”

I glared at him. “You have sharp, pointy teeth.”

He stopped a moment. “Touché. But seriously, rumors have it he killed one.”

“And that’s bad?”

He sighed again. “Werewolves and vampires don’t like each other. We know this. I’m not too sure why, but we were constantly at war with one another. Apparently, a treaty was signed about the time I was Changed to end the feuding between the children of Selene and Nyx,” he explained, naming the goddess’ of moon and night. “It was rather difficult. There were a lot of wolves that were against the treaty. I assume the same went for the vampires and even then, tensions are high between the two.”

“I see. So the peace is so fragile and he went and pulled a dumbass move like that. Why not just kill him?” I asked.

“You’d be willing to end a man’s life, just like that?” Greg asked me.

I thought seriously for a moment. “I’m not sure it would be that easy but even in world of wolves, I’ve noticed it’s common to say, ‘an eye for an eye’.”

Greg nodded. “But that’s between members of the same species. If those who agree with the treaty allow the vampires to take his life, then they’ll be appeased. However, those against it-”

“Would cause hell.” I finished inelegantly.

“Exactly.”

“So they’re sending him here because?” I asked, still not fully understanding.

“Because, as far as we know, there’s no vampire seethe located here. Too sunny,” he said, as if that was the most obvious explanation in the world. Which I guess, it sort of was.

“But they can only go out at night anyway. What difference would that make? Not that I’m not glad, of course.”

“The really strong ones can go out on cloudy days, as long as the sun doesn’t shine directly on them.”

I stared at him. “Bram Stoker failed to mention that.” A shiver ran up my spine.

Greg smiled. “You’re afraid of them?”

“Creeped out. There’s just something not natural about a walking corpse,” I explained.

“Right, because humans turning into animals and running on all fours is better,” he mocked.

“Say what you want but at least you’re alive.”

He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “You’re a silly girl, Harper.”

I smiled at him. “I’ve been told so before.”